LOGINThe common room was bustling at this hour as students rushed around, getting ready for classes. I made my way to the kitchen and threw a bagel in the toaster, leaning against the counter as I waited.“Callum?”Bianca stepped into view, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. My jaw tightened, wolf insti
Callum’s POVI woke to the feeling of something warm in my chest.For a moment, I almost could have sworn that I had something small and delicate gathered up in my arms. A gentle heart beating against my own. A lock of soft hair fluttering against my cheek.Liora.A smile touched my lips. I tightene
It might have been laughable, had circumstances not been so… sad.“So your parents took it badly, I imagine,” I pointed out.Callum huffed and looked into his bottle. “My dad beat the shit out of me.”I pulled my head back. “He what?”Wordlessly, Callum turned, pulling his shirt up to reveal his bac
Liora’s POVI just barely made it into the parking space before the car let out one final groan, then sputtered to a stop, rocking back and forth on the wheels.“Sorry about that, girl,” I said, patting the steering wheel. “That was a lot more driving in one day than I anticipated.”Shirley almost s
“Twenty lashes,” he said. “We’ll see if you change your mind then.”I grit my teeth. “I don’t have to put up with this anymore.”“Would you rather take it, or would you prefer if that little wolfless whore of yours took it instead?”The moment he said those words, I felt all the blood drain from my
Callum’s POVMy father’s shadow darkened the room.There was a time in my life when my father’s presence seemed enormous and all-consuming, like a black hole filling any space he entered. When I was a child, I remembered thinking that he was big enough to reach the moon, or to blot out the sun.I’d
Callum The silence in the student council room used to bring me peace. Now it just echoed louder than any argument I’d ever had.I adjusted the papers in front of me for the fifth time, alignment mattered, right? Or maybe I just couldn’t sit still knowing she was out there.Liora, who I’d spent the
CallumStudent Council paperwork was the dullest form of power. Dozens of requests for toilet maintenance, field reservations, and flower bed budgets. Thomas was sitting across from me, cross-legged on the floor like a camp counselor, sorting through club applications with more enthusiasm than I cou
“Bianca should’ve never let you get away with that attitude,” the lip gloss girl finally spat, chest heaving. “You’re a disgrace. To this school. To her.”Ah. There it was.So it was Bianca.I grabbed the closest girl by the arm and shoved her just hard enough to send her flying out of my stall, stu
LioraFor the first time in what felt like forever, I had been beginning to feel like a student again. Not a placeholder. Not a problem. Not a royal complication disguised as a girl in borrowed time. The last few days had offered something rare. Quiet mornings with Mia where we shared too-hot coffee







